Okay, so you want to edit attribute values. The slightly strange thing in this day and age of toolbars, dashboards, tool palettes and dialog boxes is that the default value when AutoCAD is installed is 0, which is the Command line setting. Click OK to conclude the block insertion.
The attributes are displayed in the order in which you selected them when you created the block definition, but you can edit them in any sequence. If it's set to 0 (zero), then you are asked for each attribute value one at a time in sequence at the Command line, but if it's set to 1, a cool dialog box appears showing all attributes.Īttribute values can be supplied through a dialog box when AttDia is set to 1. The value of AttDia also is saved in the system registry. The setting of AttReq is saved in the system registry, so that all insertions of all blocks in all drawings obey its current value. The sneaky bit here is that if you forget to specify a default value when you created the attribute definition, then each insertion of it is blank. When it is set to 0 (zero), then you are not asked, but all attributes assume their default values. If the AttReq (Attribute Request) system variable is set to the default value of 1, then when you insert a block you are asked for a specific value for each attribute. While we're on the subject of inserting blocks with attributes, let's go back and look at the two system variables that I referred to a few paragraphs back. You can use it to modify the properties of attribute definitions from within or to delete attributes from a block definition, and it can also be used to change the sequence of attribute definitions within a block definition. I wrote about it in full detail in October 2003. You will find it under Modify / Object / Attribute / Block Attribute Manager.
If you do mess up, however, it isn't necessary to redefine the entire block. The order of selecting other objects such as lines or circles is irrelevant. For example, Model or Type should probably come before Color. Your lesson? When selecting attributes for a block definition, select them in a logical sequence. Yes! The system asks you for the specific attribute values in the same order in which you selected them during the block definition process. Next Insert each block and notice the difference in their behavior. Repeat the process for block 2-1, but this time select the remaining Second attribute before you pick the remaining First. When picking objects for 1-2, select a First attribute and then select a Second. Copy them so you have a pair of Firsts and a pair of Seconds.Ĭreate two block definitions called 1-2 and 2-1 respectively. Give them default values of 1 and 2, respectively. Next create two attributes, one called First and the other called Second. You can do this simply by entering the system variable names at the Command prompt and then enter the appropriate values. To ensure the following instructions work properly, it's necessary to make sure that the AttReq (Attribute Request) system variable is set to the default value of 1 and that AttDia is set to its default value of 0 (zero). Now that we understand the basics, let's look at some specific details starting with a few things that the AttDef and Block definition dialog boxes never told you. Each time the block is inserted, the program asks us to provide a specific value for the text in each attribute. Having created one or more attributes, we can use them as objects within a block definition.
Last month, we also explored the various mode settings. These properties include its tag, a prompt and a default value. While we're at it, we can define a few extra properties for each attribute. In short, we define everything except for what the text actually says. We define the text style, size, location, justification and rotation. This dialog box lets us assign most of the properties of a normal text object, except for the text itself. Use the AttDef dialog box to create attribute definitions.